Sniper
by Eva Kelly
Summary: Booth is forced to revisit his sniper past and Brennan learns how truly dangerous her partner can be. B/B
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Bones!

* * *

"Colonel Andy Carter meet my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan." Booth grinned as he made the introduction, patting Andy on the shoulder. The man looked to be a few years younger than her partner, his eyes were soft and blue and his hair was a tousled sandy color.

"Booth didn't mention you were hot." The amiable young colonel shook her hand and raised his eyebrows as he perused her body in a way that made her distinctly uncomfortable.

"Off limits Carter." He warned "This woman is like a sister to me so you will treat her with respect."

"You know, Sweets would say something about the attractive nature of forbidden fruit right about now." She said, eying Booth irritably.

"No offense doctor but there is not a piece of tail so fine on this earth or any other that would be worth pissing this guy off." He was still smiling but Bones sensed something else there. Fear, tension, sincerity? Booth quickly redirected Andy by pointing to a pile of putrefied remains on a sterile table.

"Check this out Carter. This is what you would look like if I shot you and left you in a pile of manure for a few days. Pretty huh?"

"This is what you do now Booth? You work in a lab? You pick through corpses for clues? Dude, you're the most dangerous man I've ever met. I use the reports from your kills to train new snipers. Why are you wasting your time here?"

"No. I do not pick through corpses. I catch murderers. It's retribution Carter. For the people I killed. What do you do to make things right huh? Train more killers?" He slapped the younger man on the back a couple times and led him off the platform.

"Hey drinks tonight? You, me, your sister?" Booth's comment hadn't so much as rattled the officer, his tone remained jovial.

"Bones you wanna grab a drink with us?"

"Sure, we'll meet you later."

When they were gone Daisy looked up from the body and asked "What do you think he meant when he said Booth was the most dangerous man he'd ever met?"

"Booth is very capable. I'm sure he did his job as a sniper very well."

"I just thought, since the guy trains snipers, it seemed like an odd thing to say."

"He must have been exaggerating in order to inflate Booth's ego. Males do things like that in order to create bonds of friendship."

"Not my brothers." Daisy scoffed. "It kills them to offer the slightest praise to one another, or to me for that matter…" Daisy's endless chatter filled the room, her mind and most of the rest of her day.

* * *

Angela and Bones sat across from Andy in a large booth at the back of the Founding Fathers bar. Wide eyed, they both leaned forward, completely enthralled by the young officer's story. "So this guy" he jerked his thumb in the general direction of Booth, "cracks his neck in one move, jumps from the balcony, shoots his target while still falling through the air, and slips out of the city completely unnoticed." Carter slapped the table and leaned back indicating the completion of his story. It made Bones shutter, thinking about how her partner used to live. The kind of person he'd had to be to do that job and do it well. Somewhere in the corner of her mind, she recognized a secret attraction to the dangerous Booth. The one she saw so rarely but always simmered just underneath the surface.

Booth returned from the bar with three drinks in his hands and went back for the fourth beer.

"Don't tell him I told you that story," Carter whispered. He hates when I tell it." But even as Andy spoke the words, Bones felt Booth's presence behind her. She usually knew when he was near, even though he was exceptionally silent when he moved. His voice was strained, "Did you…. just tell them the Mazatlan story Carter?" The guilty stares of his three friends confirmed it. "God Carter, what did I tell you about repeating that story?" he was clearly irritated. She recognized that particular mode of irritation by his tone of voice. He was embarrassed. He didn't respond to embarrassment by blushing or averting his eyes like a normal person. He typically just got annoyed and changed the subject.

"Booth doesn't like to talk about his time as a sniper." She explained to Carter.

"You just don't want people to know what a bad ass you are." Angela teased Booth and took a slow sip of wine.

"No." Booth elongated the word in exasperation. "I'm just concerned with national security. Ever heard of it? Those assignments are 'need to know' and these two don't 'need to know,'" he accentuated the words with air quotations.

"It is not a national security issue and you know it." Carter protested.

"Booth doesn't like to brag about killing people." Bones said defensively. "He's an honorable and decent man who doesn't take pleasure in ending a human life."

"Sister huh?" Carter said, looking suspiciously at her. "That's exactly the kind of thing my sister says about me."

"Sister?" Ang repeated the word and looked inquisitively from Booth to Brennan, but it was Carter who provided the explanation she was seeking.

"Booth here says she's like a sister to him, making her conveniently off limits for me."

"You just indicated that my comments were consistent with those made by your own female sibling. Why are you now insinuating alternative motives for Booth's categorization of our relationship?" she asked.

"Eh?" Andy looked at her in confusion.

"She wants to know what you meant by 'conveniently off limits'" Angie translated for him.

"How is that sister of yours?" Booth said in a loud and blatantly obvious attempt to change the subject. "Kassandra right? She was going to school to be….a lawyer right?" Andy had mercy on him and answered his question rather than Dr. Brennan's.

"Kassy is practicing law in New York City. She's doing patent law and raking in cash hand over fist." His voice was filled with pride.

"What do her extremities have to do with her income?" Bones asked.

"It's an expression Bones. It means she makes a lot of money." Booth's quiet explanation satisfied her and she returned to the subject of patent law.

"We currently have three patent's pending at the Medico-Legal Laboratory. The legalities are quite complex."


	2. Chapter 2

The following day, Andy met him for lunch at the diner. Booth sensed that he had an agenda from the moment he walked in the door.

"We need you." Andy said simply.

"No." his answer was definite.

"Booth." Andy pleaded.

"No way."

"It's Serquena"

"Son of a bitch." Booth cursed and drug a hand through his hair.

"He's in Madrid. Intel says he's surfaced for a week to make a weapons deal with some new terrorist organization. We don't have long enough to train someone else. We need someone who knows his habits and can take him down within a couple of days. You are the only guy that can do that."

"I am not a soldier any more Carter. This is not my fight."

"You will always be a soldier Booth. And you will always be the best. Your country needs you." Patriotism always worked on Booth.

"I am serving my country as a Federal Agent. I am doing my patriotic duty Carter." He argued

"Serquena has killed hundreds. He could kill thousands more if we don't take him down when we have the chance."

"Then put your best guys on it. Do it yourself for Christ sake. You were there when I killed his brother. You know the guy as well as I do."

"I know what he looks like, who he works with… I don't know how he thinks Booth. How he moves. He's been underground for years. There is no new information on him, you are still the person that knows more about Serquena than any other person we've got.

"I'll train somebody Carter but I won't do it myself."

"We don't have time for that." Booth saw the desperation in his friend's eyes and knew he couldn't refuse. Serquena was more than a threat to national security, he was a personal enemy. A man who would do anything to avenge the death of his brother and that put everyone in his own life at risk. It had to be done.

* * *

"I have to go away for a week or so Bones." He tried to drop it casually into their conversation as they filled out paperwork on their most recent case.

"Why?" she asked, not looking up from her desk.

"Confidential government stuff." He said.

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight." Her eyes shot up to meet his.

"What aren't you telling me Booth." She demanded.

"It's confidential Bones, I told you." He recognized the look in her eyes. She was too smart for her own good.

"It's to do with Colonel Carter isn't it?" God it was irritating not to be able to hide things from her.

"It is."

"I'll come with you. Just let me pack."

"You can't Bones, you know that." He said gently.

"I can. I know people. I can pull some strings and…."

"No… I mean I need you to stay here. I can't be worrying about you during this assignment. I need to focus."

"On what?" she demanded belligerently.

"It's confidential Bones." He said again, his tone patronizing. Her eyes were wide with concern and barely concealed fury. He held her gaze, wishing he hadn't had to tell her any of this. Wishing she didn't know what he was about to do.

"I can help Booth. I'm an excellent shot and I know martial arts. I am also very stealthy." He smiled at her typical lack of humility.

"I know you are. This is just…. It's different, and it's important. You need to let this one go Bones." He looked earnestly into her face, willing her to accept the inevitability of the situation. He saw the moment he had won. Her eyes softened and her gaze fell to her desk. She picked up her pen and began to write. She looked defeated and sad and his heart ached a little for putting that expression on her face. Silence enveloped them for the next two hours as they worked. When it was time to leave, he hesitated, unsure of her mood.

She looked up at him, her eyes roaming hungrily over every inch of his face. "I hate this." she said softly.

"It'll be over soon." He promised.

"I'm so sorry that you have to do this Booth." Compassion. She disagreed with his choice, with the government's choice to send him, with the entire premise behind this assignment, yet her heart was filled with compassion and understanding for what he was going through. He marveled at the hidden depths of this woman. She was incredible and he felt overwhelmingly blessed by her friendship and respect.

"I can handle this Bones. I don't want you to sit here worrying while I'm gone. I'm not new at this."

"Anxiety is irrational."

"And in this situation, it is completely unnecessary okay?" he walked to the desk and reached over it to pull her chin up, forcing her eyes to his.

"I'll call you when I land okay? And before I get on the plane to come back." It was all he could think of to do to alleviate her fear.

"That is not necessary Booth. You have no obligation to me."

"Still. Just let me call you okay Bones. It'll make me feel human."

"Be careful." He quirked his mouth into a careless smile.

"Will do Bones. See you in a few days."

* * *

I'm stuck here! Not sure where to go from here or if I should just leave it a one shot. If you have any ideas, please share:)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Bones!

Thanks for the ideas everybody:)

* * *

After two more hours of paperwork, Dr. Temperance Brennan was faced with the unsettling prospect of spending the evening alone, trying not to think about her partner. She was not a person who worried. She knew logically that it did not make sense to allow herself to become anxious. But on the other hand it was also completely logical to be concerned about one's partner. Especially if said partner was flying half way across the world to shoot a person who was a threat to national security.

She walked decisively towards limbo and pulled out a box of unidentified remains, hoping it would keep her occupied until she was tired enough to sleep. But as she worked, her overactive imagination began to rationalize her anxiety. After all, Booth was not a young man anymore. He had back problems; he constantly worried about the safety of others, often to the detriment of his own safety. He was incapable of killing a person without visual confirmation of their identity; in fact he was incapable of killing anyone who wasn't an immediate threat to his life or the life of someone around him. Booth was not a sniper anymore and she needed desperately to believe that he could do this or she wouldn't be able to make it through the next few days. She knew he was a capable agent, a skilled marksman and very physically fit. But she had no proof that he could do the job he'd been sent away to do.

She had unknowingly stopped her work, lacking the focus necessary to identify the box of bones in front of her. How could she get confirmation of his abilities? Who would know about his training and his record in the Rangers? Who could give her the proof she needed right away? Because if she didn't get it soon, she knew she wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

Jared? Booth's brother might know something useful. She pulled the phone out of her lab coat pocket and glanced at the time. Seven o'clock. She dialed Jared's number and was relieved to here his familiar voice on the other line.

"Jared… Hi… it's me, Temperance."

"Wow, Tempie". He was obviously surprised by her call. "What's going on? Is Seely okay?" He was probably remembering the last time she called him. The day the gravedigger had kidnapped his brother and he'd sacrificed his career to save his life.

"Yes… at least I…" she wanted to tell him that he wasn't okay, that he was on some fool mission for the fool government. But she remembered that he no longer had security clearance, and that she herself didn't know the details of the mission. "I wondered if you might meet me for a drink." she added quickly, wondering how difficult it would be to get him to talk. Booth was the one who got people to talk, not her. She was completely out of her element.

"Sure. Founding Fathers? Twenty minutes?" She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Jared, I'll see you soon."

* * *

Exactly twenty minutes later, she was sitting across a small bar table from Jared Booth. "What's up Temperance?" he asked, concern tinged his voice. She felt slightly more at ease simply being around Booth's brother. Seeing his strength and confidence, knowing that he cared as much as she did. He wasn't the Booth she wanted, he was just "Booth Light" according to Angela, but he was what she needed at that exact moment.

"I need…" what did she need? Reassurance? "I need to know that Booth can handle himself…. In certain… situations." She finished awkwardly.

"You should know that better than anyone. Definitely better than me." He looked quizzically at her for a moment. "Are you asking how he would handle something personal? Are you talking about relationship stuff Tempie because I'm pretty sure Seely can handle whatever you throw at him in that arena."

"No," she corrected him quickly. I'm talking about his past… or rather his present as it relates to his past. I need to know that he is capable in a more… military sort of situation." Jared's eyes lit up in understanding. "They called him back out didn't they?"

"He wouldn't say exactly, but I have come to the conclusion based on all available evidence that he has gone on a mission of some kind."

"Shit." Jared let out a low whistle and his eyes drifted to his soda as he swished it around in his glass. She wondered if he was wishing it contained alcohol.

"I find that I am concerned to such an extent that I am unable to concentrate on my work. And I feel that I would be able to focus more fully if I could be assured of his ability to come back from this mission alive." She took a deep breath and added "I have pulled some strings and gotten access to his file and the mission reports from when he was a Ranger. But those files will not be available until early tomorrow morning and I would like some information of a more… immediate nature."

"So you want me to reassure you that Booth will not be killed?" he clarified.

"Only if that is the truth. I do not want to be placated; I want to have factual data on which to base my own conclusion." He smiled sadly at her.

"I can't promise that he won't be hurt Temperance. I wish that I could. But even someone with Booth's particular…. uh… skill set… couldn't ever be guaranteed a safe return. These situations are unpredictable at best."

"But you know about this so called 'skill set' and you could inform me of his… credentials so to speak." Her questions were stilted, awkward and unfamiliar. She'd rarely had occasion to be this vulnerable in front of another human being.

"I'm not sure if he'd really want me talking to you about this." His eyes met hers in a sort of hesitant gaze. He didn't know if it would be betraying his brother's trust to confide in her. She understood and appreciated his internal struggle.

"Please Jared…." Her voice cracked, revealing more emotion than she intended. "Please." She repeated softly.

"I'll tell you what I know Temperance but it may not be enough to help you. I pulled his mission reports and I asked some questions when I was at the pentagon. Some of it I knew, some of it was news to me…. Are you really sure you want to hear it?"

"Yes." She had never been so certain of anything.

"Okay…So Seely was the guy they sent in when no one else could do the job. He got the messiest assignments, the ones that required more than just a big gun."

"I don't know what that means. Perhaps you could provide me with an anecdote or an example."

He shifted uncomfortably on his barstool.

"Okay, an example…" he mused over his drink for a moment before he continued. "In Afghanistan, we needed to take out a military general, but he had this nasty tendency to use his family to avoid being shot. He knew he was being hunted and he knew American snipers avoided civilian targets whenever possible, so he would walk around with his three year old daughter, or his son or his wife, using them as a sort of human shield, making him extremely difficult to kill. Three teams tried and failed to get this guy, so they assigned Booth. After a few days of tracking his movements, Booth gave up the sniper strategy, infiltrated a secure facility, kidnapped the entire family at gunpoint and neutralized the target along with five other high ranking officials. He was shot twice and still managed to escape. They never saw him coming."

She swallowed hard. Booth had kidnapped a family? A three year old little girl? At gunpoint? She tried to fit this story into her existing perception of him and it didn't fit. Booth could not do something like that. She felt Jared watching her, carefully gauging her response.

"How old was he when he did all that?" was all she could think to ask.

"22." She swallowed again. Trying to relieve the persistent dryness in her throat, not thinking to take a drink of the wine she was gripping tightly in one hand.

"Soon after that, he was captured and tortured for weeks on end. He never gave up, he never gave in. He just took it. And when he had a chance, he escaped. He's a survivor Temperance." She shivered involuntarily.

"How did he escape?"

"He fooled them into believing that he was weaker than he actually was. He took out the guard through the bars of his cell, got his keys and got out." She couldn't help but notice the pride in Jared's voice. He and Booth may have their differences, but this man was proud of his brother. Of course he would never let Booth know that. She was secretly pleased to know something that Booth didn't. Particularly something about emotion and human nature.

"Do you believe that Booth still retains the skills and abilities that made him successful as a young man?"

"I do Temperance. I believe he's stronger now than he was then. And he's smarter."

"He has been spending a significant of time around me as well as with other scientists of above average intelligence. It is possible that he has picked up some of that knowledge." She considered this as her companion suppressed a grin.

"True. But I was thinking more along the lines of all of his years in the FBI. Undercover operations, catching murderers, getting information…. he is perfectly capable of doing whatever it is that his country needs him to do. And he _will_ be coming back Temperance."

"How can you be certain?" Her voice sounded belligerent, even to her own ears. But she had to do something to mask the inherent vulnerability she had revealed by asking such a needy question.

"I know my brother. Maybe I don't know him as well as you do, but I've known him longer. I've seen him overcome things that would have broken a lesser man. And I've seen him do it over and over and over again." She let out a breath that she didn't know she had been holding. "He's a survivor." He said again. Usually she would have pointed out that he had already made that same point earlier, but this time, she was glad he said it twice, because those were the exact words she needed to here.

"Thank you Jared."

"Hey, any time. You call me and let me know when he comes home okay?" he finished the last of his soda and got up to leave.

"I will." She promised and watched him walk out the door.

* * *

Tempie or Tempy or Tempe? I've seen it all three ways – how the heck do you spell it?


	4. Chapter 4

In Madrid, Booth checked into his hotel and headed for the make shift headquarters in the suite upstairs. Andy was there in full fatigues along with four other soldiers, all bending over laptops. A tiny young woman with dark hair sat cross legged on the hotel bed in jeans and a black t-shirt, paperwork spread all around her.

Andy welcomed him warmly, having only arrived in town hours before Booth. He was introduced to the girl, Maria, who was distantly related to Serquena and would be his team mate for this mission. She was fresh out of Ranger school and gushed awkwardly when she met him.

"Agent Booth you are just my absolute hero, I can't believe I get to work with you, it's always been a dream of mine. That helicopter in Iran... it was just awesome." He tried to settle her down by shaking her hand and re-directing her back to the mission, but she didn't seem to have it in her to shut her mouth. Her voice was soft and low and held the barest hint of a Brooklyn accent.

"You are so much better looking than I thought you would be, I mean I knew you were older, but I thought maybe you might be one of those guys who, you know, let himself go or… I just, I'm rambling. I just can't believe you're really here."

"Oookaaay." He said uncomfortably, suddenly dreading spending the next few days with his odd little fan. Wasn't it enough that he had to kill somebody, now he had to spend his time in a hidey hole being adored by some kid who clearly didn't know how not-awesome it was to be a trained killer. He turned his attention to Andy. "What've you got for me Andy?" The Colonel handed him two glossy 8x10 pictures of their target.

"He accessed a safety deposit box at this bank here and they got him on camera. This was yesterday morning." He pointed to a grainy black and white image. Serquena in a pale grey suit, his peppered black hair slicked back into a pony tail, his shoulders just as strong and determined as Booth remembered.

"This one was taken outside an old military compound, owned by a shell corporation. We were tracking the movements of this terrorist organization, the Kvedick Liberation Front. One of our guys recognized Serquena's face after we got this bank photo out. Our sources say he's staying at the compound, negotiating a weapons deal. He arrived two days ago and they anticipate a quick negotiation.

"I assume we already have someone on all the entrances?"

"All the entrances that are above ground. Blueprints show connections to an underground tunnel system. Once he leaves, we can't track him."

"So you need someone in the tunnels?"

"Exactly. We've determined the most likely route. There is one particular tunnel that ends near a private airstrip owned by the same shell corporation. We think he'll head that direction when he leaves. You and Maria will wait down there for him."

"Gun?"

"Barrett M107, standard issue."

"Tech?"

"Communication down there is sketchy. We can't get a signal through. Once you're in, you're on your own."

* * *

Booth had left DC at seven o'clock the previous evening, arriving in Madrid around ten in the morning. He hadn't slept much on the plane and he was exhausted. He headed to his hotel room for a few hours of shut eye before the mission, knowing sleep was one key to a steady hand. He dropped onto the bed and flipped open his phone to call his partner. It was early in DC but she usually got up by seven so he might catch her with her phone on.

"Booth?" the anxiety in her voice was palpable.

"Yeah Bones, it's me."

"How was your flight? Did you have to sit in coach?"

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep."

"Sleep deprivation has numerous side effects that could impact your ability to snipe a person Booth. Tremors, irritability, slowed reaction times…."

"Thanks Bones, I'm fine."

"Perhaps you should reconsider your decision to accept this mission." She said. Her voice sounded rational but the fear behind it was impossible to hide. She was worried. He hated making her worry.

"Bones I can handle this okay," he tried to be reassuring. "It's a simple mission, the kind of thing I've done a lot of."

"But you're older now Booth."

"Thanks" he replied sarcastically.

"Are you using the Barrett M82?" he practically choked on his own tongue.

"What do you know about Government Issue sniper rifles Bones?" he demanded.

"I know that you still hold the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill with that particular firearm." She said the words as though she had known them forever.

"And how do you know that?" the thought of her knowing anything about his past, even the few things he'd told her already, caused his lungs to constrict in panic. She would never understand him. Not really. She paused, as if trying to decide how to answer his question.

"Spill it Bones." He demanded "You've been looking into my past haven't you?"

"I simply asked a few questions in order to make sure that you were making the best possible decision. Your choices don't just affect you, you know Booth. They affect Parker and Rebecca and Caroline and the Squints…" He couldn't help but notice that she didn't add her own name to that list.

"What questions did you ask?" The panic in his chest morphed into fury. She had no right to go digging around like that. Who the hell did she think she was?

"That is irrelevant." Her voice was infuriatingly calm. "I have come to the conclusion that you are capable of completing this assignment and remaining alive. The statistical probability of success is high, based on your perfect kill record, and is only somewhat decreased by your recent brain trauma. I do believe that some emotional issues will arise upon your return, but you have shown yourself capable of coping with the reality of taking someone's life in the past. I have no reason to doubt that you could do so again."

"What questions did you ask?" he repeated quietly. She just kept talking, completely ignoring his question.

"However, I do have to reassess the validity of my conclusion based on the new information you have provided regarding sleep deprivation. I will have to re-evaluate your mission reports to account for the variable of sleep time. Although, realistically I doubt that variable has been accurately documented. Your reports are woefully lacking in detail."

"Bones you need to stop." He said forcefully.

"Stop what?"

"Stop digging into my past. Stop worrying about me. Stop rationalizing your concern…. And did you say mission reports? Did you read my mission reports? How the hell would you get access to something like that?" he was yelling now, he couldn't help it. He wanted to throw the phone against the wall.

"I have many important friends Booth. I am a very successful person."

"How could you Bones?!" he was desperate, furious, heartbroken and exhausted all at the same time.

"I apologize if I offended you." There was something in the sound of her voice that made him stop. The words were quick, sharp and soft but the emotion he was hearing was familiar. It was both despondent and unapologetic. She had rationalized her need for that information and nothing he said was going to change her mind.

"Why Bones? Why did you decide, after all these years…"

"I need to know that you are coming back. I'm sorry. But your assurances did not suffice in this particular situation." She needed to know that he was safe. Just like that, the fury subsided. This woman had an uncanny ability to change his emotions in an instant. His voice softened.

"It's okay for you to care about what happens to me Bones. It doesn't make you less of a scientist. It just makes you a good friend."

"Are you sure it would not be helpful to have me there?" she said hopefully and he couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sure Bones. But thanks for the offer."

"You are welcome. I will let you get some sleep now."

"See you soon." He said in parting and dropped the phone onto the nightstand. He lay awake for a few minutes, trying not to remember what was in those reports. All the things he'd kept from his partner for years now, all of them were out in the open. He knew her too well to believe she might have left any stone unturned.

* * *

Her phone was ringing. What time was it? Had she slept in? She fumbled around in the dark for the source of the obnoxious sound, knocking a candle off the bedside table in the process.

"Brennan," she grumbled into the receiver.

"Bones it's me." She sat bolt upright in her bed. He was alive. She hadn't heard from him in four agonizingly long days and the sound of his voice was soothing, no matter how agitated he sounded.

"Booth is it over? Are you okay?"

"My partner's missing and I've got a burned up pile of corpse here that…" he paused for a moment and she heard a sharp intake of breath before he continued "I need you to get on a plane and get to Madrid. There's a flight that leaves in three hours." His voice was ragged and exhausted.

"Booth did you…."

"I'll explain when you get here. Just… just get here okay." He hung up the phone without further explanation.

She was surprisingly calm as she packed her suitcase and reserved her tickets online, even taking the time to check and see what the weather would be like in Madrid. Booth was alive and she would see him in only a few hours. She would finally get to do something about this gut wrenching anxiety that had haunted her since his departure. The feelings of helplessness were subsiding. She could help him now, she had a plan of action and it felt good. Truth be told, as long as her partner was alive, she knew everything else would be fine. It would all fall into place now that she could be where he was.


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN BONES!

Maria had been missing for twenty two hours when he finally spotted his partner's elegant profile at the baggage claim. She was a sight for sore eyes. Beautiful as usual in a girly cap sleeved white blouse and cropped pale blue pants. He couldn't believe she was here, that he'd invited her into this part of his life. He'd kept her away from this for so long; he should've known that it was inevitable she would eventually see who he really was. Her opinion of him really mattered. She saw him as someone who was trustworthy and honorable and generally good. That would all change now and it made him sick to his stomach to think about it.

But Maria was right, he had to stop obsessing about Bones. It wasn't healthy. Besides, it was distracting him and he needed all his energy to be focused on finding Maria. Self control, it was something he was extremely good at. He would shut Bones out until he found Maria. It was the only way to get this done. He motioned impatiently for her to join him and her face lit up visibly when she spotted him, putting an immediate damper on the whole "shut Bones out" plan.

"Bones I need you at the morgue first thing. Andy arranged to have your luggage taken to the hotel." He started in without preamble. "I have Maria's records there so your first priority is to rule her out as the victim."

"What is the context of the find?" she asked, her steps and her tone matched his as they left the air conditioned building and walked to the car in the stifling hot Spanish air.

"I waited three days for my mark, I finally got a lock on him and the second I pulled the trigger my scope filled with flames. I killed him, but not in time to save whoever he burned to a crisp beside him. My partner left a half hour before that happened. She had a meet scheduled with Carter but she never showed up." Bones' eyes narrowed when he called Maria his "partner". It was odd how little time it had taken before he thought of Maria that way. She was so open compared to Bones, so eager to please. Plus they'd spent 72 hours literally crammed together into a hole in the wall. You got to know someone quickly in close quarters.

"We don't have jurisdiction here so the locals recovered the remains and didn't do that great of a job securing the scene. They're nervous about offending the business that owns the property where the body was found, it has some political ties in addition to being a front for a terrorist organization. They won't let the body out of the country but we can send samples to the Jeffersonian as needed." He opened the car door for her. Their rental was a small white, energy efficient SUV and she folded her long legs easily into the passenger seat. "You need to stay in the lab on this one Bones, you're not equipped to handle this. Plus there are some really complicated politics involved okay…"

"You always say we work better as a team. I believe your word was 'symbiotic'…" She protested. "If you really want to find your partner, you need to let me help you." He couldn't answer, couldn't imagine putting Bones in danger after he'd already lost Maria. _Damnit,_ he didn't know that yet. He had to stop thinking so negatively. It might not be her. She might still be alive. Instead of arguing with his partner, he just clenched his jaw and gripped the steering wheel tighter as he drove.

Vivid flashback's persisted throughout the drive to the morgue. Maria's whispered confidences in the dark, her trusting adoring dark eyes. Serquena's thick pony tail, flashes of fire, charred body parts…. He had to fix this. It was all his fault, he'd known the day he killed Serquena's brother that it wasn't over between them.

He saw the two men now like it was yesterday. Standing between the thin black lines of his scope, Serquena's arm around his brother as they smoked cigars on the rooftop patio. It was a surprisingly easy shot after weeks of waiting and watching his every move. He just had to kill a guy who happened to be standing in his brother's arms. Jared's face had temporarily clouded his vision that day, but he'd shaken it off. The man was a ruthless killer, an arms dealer that caused incalculable destruction and a serious threat to national security and he had to be stopped. He took the shot and watched as the two men dropped to the ground, the living brother covered in blood, screaming down at the body of his sibling. He could hear the screams from where he crouched two blocks away. In the split second before he took his eye from the scope, Serquena had looked at him. Directly at him. It was impossible for the man to see him, he knew that. But at that moment, he'd firmly believed Serquena was looking straight into his soul.

Serquena had quickly stepped into his brother's shoes, more ruthless and heartless than they ever could have predicted. He'd sent a video message to the American Army, demanding that his brother's killer be turned over to him, or he would kill two American hostages. The whole thing had been hushed up, after a failed rescue attempt had ended in the two tourists being beaten and murdered and left on the front doorstep of the American Embassy. He'd gone underground after that, and hadn't been spotted in years.

He was dead now, but not before he'd gotten his revenge. He'd finally taken someone close to Booth, someone who'd become like a sister to him during their time together. He could not allow Serquena to win.

When they arrived at the morgue, Bones immediately set up a link to the Jeffersonian and she and Mr. Nigel-Murrey took only ten minutes to rule out Maria as the victim. She was alive. She was alive and he knew without a doubt that she was in that compound. Now he just needed to get in there.

* * *

Why did Booth insist on referring to the girl as his partner? It was irritating in the extreme. He already had a partner. Besides he hardly knew Maria. This was a one shot mission. He'd only known the woman four days and if she hadn't gone missing, that was as long as he would have ever known her. Unless maybe she'd become something more to him. Perhaps they had developed a romantic relationship during those four days. The thought inexplicably pained her. Her gut twisted and turned until she was completely uncomfortable.

He'd paced and prodded irritably during her initial examination of the remains. And once he had realized that it wasn't Maria, he'd left her. Not physically, but she could see it in his eyes; hear it in the hushed conversations he had over the phone in the corner. Her Booth was gone, and in his place was a hollow man. He'd obviously cared deeply about the girl, maybe even more deeply than he cared about her. She _had_ to know if there was something going on between Booth and Maria Vasquez. She didn't want to know, but she _needed_ to know.

"All of these samples need to be shipped to the Jeffersonian." She ordered the lab tech. "Booth, there isn't anything further we can do with these remains until I get the results of the tests and Angela's analysis of the photos I sent."

"Great Bones, I'll take you back to the hotel." She pulled off her gloves and gave some parting orders to the technicians before following Booth to the car. He was silent again.

"What was she like?" She asked him softly.

"Who Maria?" he sounded surprised. Whether at the sound of her voice itself or at the question she couldn't tell.

"Yeah."

"Young."

"That doesn't answer my question Booth." She pressed him, though he obviously didn't want to talk about it.

"She was young and idealistic and beautiful. She's from Brooklyn, she's got three older brothers, her mom died last year of leukemia and her dad is a cop. Her favorite color is yellow, she loves dogs and macaroni and cheese and she's wanted to be a Ranger ever since her brother joined in 1998." He rattled off the details of the young woman's life without a breath. Without a thought. He just knew. Her stomach twisted again. Who was this woman who had insinuated herself so quickly into her partner's life.

"Wow… so you two bonded quickly." She tried to keep the irritation from her voice and was only mildly successful.

"She's easy to get to know. You'll see what I mean when you meet her." He said cryptically.

"You're planning something aren't you?"

"I know where she is and I'm planning to get her out." He said calmly, as though the prospect was totally commonplace and mundane, rather than wildly dangerous.

"I want to come with you Booth. I am just as capable as you, plus I have martial arts training and I speak better Spanish. I could be extremely helpful."

"Thanks Bones but I've already got help lined up. No need for back up on this one." He was lying. After five years, she could usually tell when he was lying. He was going in by himself. Just like that story Jared told him. He would storm the compound, save the girl and put himself in serious danger in the process.

"Are you going tonight?"

"Probably later tonight, yeah." If he wouldn't invite her along, she'd find another way to go with him.

"Okay well… be careful." She did her best to appear conciliatory and he seemed to buy it. He made sure she was settled into her room and showed her around their temporary headquarters before he took his leave.

"Thanks for coming Bones. I'm really glad you're here." The words sounded empty and his eyes were far away. And to think, only a few hours earlier she'd been so confident that everything would be alright once they were together. She'd never experienced this version of Booth before. She didn't know whether to cry or hit him. He was a completely different person, a stranger, and she had no idea how to relate.

"Any time Booth. You'd do the same for me." She squeezed his arm and offered up a crooked smile which he did not return.


	6. Chapter 6

Once he'd left, she put her plan in motion. She conned a gun out of Andy, changed into black, grabbed a dark grey blanket from her bed and snuck quickly down to their rental car in the parking garage. She'd left a door unlocked when they got out earlier, so she was able to get into the small SUV without any trouble. Heart pounding, she contorted her body until it was obscured by piles of FBI standard issue gear. Then she covered her body with the blanket, hoping she'd be invisable in the dark.

Booth may not think he needed her, but she knew that he did. Two heads were always better than one, and two guns wouldn't hurt either. Her heartbeat slowed to normal as one hour passed and then another. She began to wonder if he was really planning something for tonight. Or if he was perhaps planning to use another vehicle. Or maybe he didn't even need a vehicle. Maybe he planned to take a train or a bus, or to walk.

Just as she'd begun to give up hope, she heard the door open and Booth entered the vehicle. A little thrill went through her at the idea that she would be putting one over on her partner. The car started and Booth made a call as he drove.

"Carter, you ready?" Then a pause, "Give me an hour….. yeah an hour is plenty." Another pause, longer this time. "I got this Andy, no worries." He slapped the phone shut. An indeterminate amount of time passed before the car stopped and then another indeterminate amount of time before Booth actually got out of the car. She was pretty sure that her cheek had been resting on the enormous gun Booth had used to kill someone yesterday. The contact with such a vicious weapon gave her chills and reminded her once more that the man she was following was not her Booth. He was the deadly, Army Ranger version of Booth.

She only waited a split second before she came out of hiding. It was a good thing too, because she couldn't see her partner anywhere on the long deserted road in front of her. She quietly left the vehicle and strained her eyes looking for him. He was running, fast and quiet in the dark. He was off the side of the road, running low, next to the trees. Only visible if you knew exactly what you were looking for.

Bones was grateful that she was in excellent shape, her martial arts training made her confident that could do anything that Booth could do. Aside from effectively interrogate a witness of course. She took off running, but he was so far ahead of her and he was running so much faster that she quickly lost track of him. She was surprised to find that she made much more noise than Booth did. She'd never thought about how difficult it was to move with that kind of silence.

* * *

He was being followed. He was sure of it, and his gut never lied. But he didn't have the time or the inclination to deal with his pursuer just yet. He was on a timeline. He needed to get Maria out within the hour. Booth entered the tunnel system through an abandoned factory building on the edge of the city. He'd used this entrance once before and found it to be the fastest route with the fewest number of guards.

He snuck past the guards in the dark, but there were more of them to avoid the closer he got to the compound. At the entrance, he had to knock two of them out and use their keys to get in. He took the time to hide their unconscious bodies to avoid arousing suspicion too early.

Once inside, Booth spent some time eavesdropping, searching for some indication of where Maria was being held. His Spanish was rusty, but he was able to here numerous references to "la chica Americana" and someone named Miguel. From what he gathered, this Miguel person was guarding her somewhere nearby. After a few minutes of aimless wandering, he caught a break.

"Hola Miguel." He heard the words as he crouched in a corner, watching two men exchange pleasantries in the hallway outside a thick metal door. When the second guard left, Booth snuck up behind Miguel, disarmed him and shoved a gun in his mouth to keep him quiet. He forced the guard to let him into the room, but found it empty. His heart sunk, Maria wasn't here. Spanish came back to him all in a rush and he threatened the man in his own language.

"Where the fuck is she Miguel? You tell me where she is and I won't kill you." He pulled the gun out of his mouth long enough for the man to proclaim no knowledge of her whereabouts. He broke his pinky easily, ignoring the sickening crunch and smothering the man's howl of pain with his forearm. "I know she was here. Who took her?" He demanded in Spanish.

"No se senor, no se por favor. Por favor!" He snapped his other pinky and moved the gun to the man's temple.

"You've got five seconds to give me something or I shoot you in the face."

"Booth?!" A familiar voice pleaded with him from the doorway. So Bones was the one following him. He should've known she couldn't stay put.

"Godamnit Bones, didn't I tell you to stay in the lab?" He said through clenched teeth, his gun still pressed against Miguel's face. His stomach knotted for the first time since he'd entered the compound. Now he was nervous. Now he had something to loose. His stupid, arrogant partner had just squashed any hope he had of finding Maria without killing anyone.

"Drop the gun" a third voice came from behind him in stilted English.

_Shit_

* * *

She'd been extremely proud of her covert techniques up until that guard caught her. She'd found the entrance to the tunnels after only a few minutes of following a trail in the dark. She'd avoided two guards in the tunnel and was surprised to find the door to the compound unguarded and unlocked.

Once she was inside she'd run into trouble. The place was crawling with armed men. She'd been discovered within moments, as she huddled in a corner, waiting for an opening to make her move. The dirty, sweaty, angry man grabbed her roughly by the arm and shoved a large automatic weapon into her side. She was going to die. She'd never been so sure of it in her life. The man said nothing, he just dragged her quickly down a dimly lit corridor and through a thick metal door. Through the red haze of fear, she saw a familiar set of broad shoulders... And then a familiar neck…. And then a familiar head. Booth was here. Relief swept through her.

"Godamnit Bones, didn't I tell you to stay in the lab?" His voice was rough and mean and all at once she realized what she had done. He was about to be caught. And it was entirely her fault. All she'd wanted to do was help and now here he was, on the floor, her captor's gun pointed at his back and there was no way out. She was so stupid. So arrogant to think that Booth actually needed her help.

"Drop the gun" the man tightened his grip on her arm as he said the words in stilted, heavily accented English. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to focus her mind enough to come up with a way to disarm him. But his grip was so tight and his gun was pointed right at Booth. There was simply no way out.

While her eyes were still shut, she heard the gunshots. The man beside her let her arm go and crumpled to the ground. When she opened her eyes, Booth had rolled to one side of the room and another man was revealed, laying helplessly on the floor. This one stared, terror-stricken at her partner hands limp on the ground and a gunshot wound bleeding from his thigh. Booth jumped up and stood over him, his gun pointed at the man's face. He started counting backwards in Spanish "Cinco, quatro, tres, dos…"

"She's upstairs, with Guarez, in his bedroom." He spat the words out in rapid fire Spanish.

"Gracias." Booth smacked him on the head with his gun, rendering the man unconscious and then he finally turned to look at her. His face was covered in dark paint, a bandana covered his hair and his clothing was dark blue and army issue. His eyes raked over her once before he leaned down and ripped a gun from his ankle.

"I'm so sorry Booth." She said meekly, knowing it wasn't enough. She'd really screwed up this time. It was enough for her to finally realizethat she was out of her league with this man. Her martial arts training was a joke compared to Booth's ruthless attitude, and remarkable physical strength.

"We'll talk about this later." He said gruffly. "All twelve of the guards on this level are heading this way by now. Those gun shots were not quiet. So here's the deal Bones and do not argue with me. I go out first, you follow…" He ripped the bullet proof vest from his chest and shoved it at her. "Put this on." He demanded and for once she did what she was told. "You shoot everyone you see who isn't me okay? And you stay close."

He didn't stop to make sure she understood, he just pulled a third gun from his waste band, kicked open the door, and started shooting, guns in both hands. She followed soon after and took out two guards on her own before she realized that there was no one left to shoot. How was it possible that her partner had just killed ten men in under a minute? For that matter, how had he killed the guy who'd captured her? And how had he knocked the guy on the floor out like that without killing him? She couldn't take it all in right now. She was surrounded by dead bodies and their lives hung in the balance.

He ran and she followed, staying in the shadows, climbing two sets of stairs, creeping through hallways and completely avoiding detection. Booth was incredible. It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. He sensed danger long before it ever presented itself. He somehow blended into the walls and into the floor and he was absolutely, astoundingly, perfectly silent. She, on the other hand, required constant protection. He was continually pushing and pulling her, smashing her into corners, covering her exposed white flesh with his completely camouflaged body. His eyes were sharp and his jaw set and he seemed to know exactly where they were going.

Now she understood those mission reports in a way that she couldn't have possibly understood them before. She understood Colonel Carter's irritation at Booth's new profession, she understood Jared's certainty of Booth's ability to survive, and most of all she finally understood Booth. He was not simply a man who was capable of great violence as she had previously assumed. He was a dangerous predator, whose capacity for self control was so great that it was not even comprehensible by a mind like hers. The laughing façade, the insatiable drive to do the right thing, his overly protective nature… it was all a carefully constructed persona, his way of controlling and containing this aspect of his nature. For the first time, she wished she had Sweet's knack for psychoanalysis. She wanted to dig deeper into this darker version of Booth. To learn what truly made this man tick. She'd never been so fascinated by another living human being before.

What seemed like hours passed in barely twenty minutes. Booth must have memorized a map of the building because he easily found the bedroom in question, flanked by two enormous armed guards, both much taller and more muscular than her partner.

"I'd like to do this without killing anyone else Bones so hang back and don't shoot unless someone is shooting at you okay." He whispered and she nodded. She watched in cold fear and admiration as he disarmed two men and knocked them unconscious before they even saw him coming. She followed him into the room where a beautiful young woman in army fatigues was tied to a bed post while a half dressed young man eyed her resentfully icing a fat lip.

"Bout time you showed up." The girl said sourly. Her thick black hair spilled in silky waves over her shoulder and her full sensual mouth was set in an irresistible pout.

"I figured you'd be free by now Vasquez. You're slipping." Booth teased, his gun pointed at the man with the fat lip while Bones untied her hands. When she was free, she rubbed her wrists and looked up into Booth's face with such blind adoration that Bones was completely unnerved. Booth clocked the guy in the face with the business end of his pistol before he finally dropped the gun to grab Maria's face in his hands.

"You okay kid?" His hands stroked her hair and her dark eyes turned to molten fire as she leaned into his touch. Bones wanted to cry for no apparent reason. Booth was not hers. He was welcome to sleep with whomever he chose. But when he kissed Maria softly on the forehead, her heart constricted and she couldn't help but turn away. She stared blankly at the still form of the man on the bed until she heard Booth radio for backup. She suddenly wished that they'd left Maria to rot in this hell hole.

* * *

Unfortunately, she ran into Maria at the hotel restaurant the following day at lunch. She'd spent the morning avoiding any thought of the young Ranger. The girl was far too beautiful and her partner was obviously involved with her. Her body responded violently every time she thought about Booth's mouth on her smooth forehead. She didn't notice that forehead until she walked right by it on her way to her table.

"I'm sorry, we were never really introduced." Maria smiled up at her warmly and extended a hand. Despite the almost irresistible urge to spit on the proffered hand, Bones took it graciously and gave the girl her warmest possible smile. Of course Booth would be interested in someone like her. They had so much in common and she was so young and perky and unscientific. Resentment was slowly building in her chest and she couldn't wait for her flight out of Madrid. She had to get away from this woman who was everything that she was not.

"Booth had wonderful things to say about you." She said honestly. "I've been anxious to meet you."

"Really? What did he say about me?" The question was so childish, Bones was completely taken aback. The girl literally glowed at the compliment.

"Well… he um….he said that you were beautiful and idealistic and that you were easy to get to know." She repeated his words and Maria blushed profusely.

"Booth thinks I'm beautiful?"

"I believe so. I don't know why else he would say that." It killed her to encourage this girl.

"He is so…" The girl's face flushed meaningfully and Bones became distinctly uncomfortable with the direction of their conversation.

"Well I mean, you know…I guess I don't have to tell you." Maria winked conspiratorially at her.

"Know what?" This woman was very odd.

"You know, what a catch Booth is. I mean God he is so sexy!" she fanned her face with one hand.

"He does seem to be an ideal mate." She agreed and Maria eyed her curiously. This woman was so fortunate to have Booth's heart, why did she have to rub it in her face. Her heart ached and throbbed. This had to be what jealousy felt like. Barely suppressed rage mixed with deep, soul wrenching despair. She'd never felt anything like it in her life.

"He's crazy about you ya know." Why would Booth's new girlfriend insinuate that he had feelings for another woman?

"I don't understand."

"And he's afraid you'll think less of him now that you know more about his past." She continued with no additional explanation. "I wish I could hate you for hogging him, but you're both so clueless I can't seem to feel anything for you but pity."


	7. Chapter 7

I still don't own Bones.

Thanks everybody for your great ideas. This was a difficult one for me to write! This is the last chapter.

* * *

"You know what Bones? I'm not ready to talk to you yet" he shut the door in her face. She stared at the closed door in disbelief. She'd never made him this angry before. And now that she knew how dangerous he was when he was angry…. She was a little bit scared to piss him off.

And this time he had every right to be angry. She'd nearly ruined everything. Nearly cost Maria her life, and for what? Because she wanted to play hero? Because she wanted to show Booth that she was as capable as he was? No. If she dug deeper, she knew it was because she wanted to protect him. Wanted to help him and keep him safe. It was because she'd been terrified of losing him. She wasn't rational when Booth's life was on the line. She'd learned that long ago and it had been no different this time around.

A knot formed in the pit of her stomach as she walked the lonely trek from Booth's room to her suite. She'd really screwed up this time. He would never forgive her. He was obviously very attached to Maria, regardless of what the girl had told her earlier, she knew he cared deeply for her. It was so obvious. He'd never be able to forgive her for endangering his partner.

* * *

"Okay, there is obviously some tension here" Dr. Sweets observed in their session the following week "lets talk about it." They both looked exhausted, their jaws set, their legs crossed away from each other and their arms folded over their bodies.

"We can't. You don't have clearance." Booth answered sharply.

"Okay… then lets discuss… in generalities… how you're feeling."

"I'll start" Dr. Brennan looked straight into his eyes rather than Booth's. "I'm feeling repentant… In general."

"And I'm feeling unforgiving." Booth spat the words at him, rather than at his partner.

"So…" Sweets put the pieces together carefully. "When you were both away on a classified mission, Dr. Brennan did something inappropriate, which she sincerely regrets." She nodded in agreement.

"And you, Agent Booth, feel unable to forgive her at this time." Booth just glared at him threateningly, making him squirm uncomfortably in his chair.

"Don't take it out on Sweets Booth." His unlikely defender demanded. "I'm the one who messed up." The agent's glare changed directions in order to pierce Dr. Brennan's usually thick skin. He thought he might've actually seen her squirm this time.

"You got that right" he shot back through clenched teeth. She looked desperately to Sweets for help for the first time in her life.

"I made a poor decision that ultimately endangered the life of a woman with whom Booth… shared a bond." She explained to him.

"This woman wasn't… you… by any chance, was it Dr. Brennan?" Booth's body language confirmed his assumption but his partner disagreed. "No, it wasn't me, it was another young women who Booth was… attached to."

Aha! There was the crux of the issue. The other woman made the good Doctor both jealous and despondent, meanwhile Booth was actually more concerned for Dr. Brennan's safety than for the safety of this other woman.

"I may be wrong here," he began, giving them an out, in case they weren't ready to talk, "but in my experience, there are few things that make Agent Booth angry, and danger to his partner is at the top of that list." He looked at Booth for confirmation, and saw a hint of agreement in his eyes but the angry agent obviously had no intention of verbalizing his agreement. "Since he is refusing to speak, I will speak for him and suggest that perhaps you placed yourself in an unnecessary amount of danger on this mission." Booth turned his head slightly looking expectantly at her. His jaw was rigid and his arms were still folded tightly across his chest.

With both of the men in the room waiting for her response, Dr. Brennan took her time to answer.

"It _is_ true that I did not realize the limitations of my own skill set in this context. And I _was _captured momentarily by a man who _may_ have intended to kill me… but I believe that Booth's anger, stems from the fact that my interference could have resulted in his failure to complete the mission, the result of which would have been Maria's death."

"You believe this friend is more important to Agent Booth than you are?" he clarified, forcing her to expose more than she wanted to.

"I don't know." She admitted. Booth's face softened only slightly at this admission, but it did force him out of his silent fury.

"You're wrong Bones." His voice was more raspy than usual but his words were filled with energy and passion. "You have no idea what it's like. Turning off my emotions like that… leaving my heart at home. I have to make _heart_less decisions. _All _I can focus on is completing the mission. If I loose that focus, I die." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "You could've been raped and murdered right in front of me Bones… that happened once to Carter's partner. You could've been shot, you could've been tortured, you could've had your throat slit…. And you know what? I would leave you there, dead and bleeding on the floor, and finish my mission because there's no helping a dead guy. That's the _definition_ of heartless Bones."

"You wouldn't let anything happen to me," she whispered defiantly, tears escaping from her bright blue eyes.

"Maria was my mission Bones…. You're my _heart_." His hand clutched his chest as he said it and he finally looked over at her. Tears were streaming down her face but he didn't reach out to comfort her.

"How could you put my heart in the middle of all that?" His tone was accusing. "How could you _knowingly_ put yourself in that kind of danger?" His eyes flashed with anger.

"I wanted to help you. I wanted to be a part of things… like when we work a case." She explained.

"This was different Bones. And you knew that. I _told_ you that."

"I really thought I could help." She sniffed and straightened her spine "Obviously I was mistaken." She grabbed a kleenex and mopped the tears off her face.

"This isn't just about you following me. This is about our relationship. Our partnership. I mean for Christ's sake Bones, I mowed down ten people in front of you last week! I tortured a father and husband while you stood there with a gun to your head." Wow. That must've been some mission. He squashed his curiosity and focused on his patients.

The hollow look in Booth's eyes sucked the air out of the room. This was obviously a man who had been through hell and back, more than once. And this mission had been his own personal version of hell.

"You had to do all of that Booth. I know that."

"That doesn't make it any less disgusting."

"You saved my life, you saved Maria…I think don't think less of you. I think you're amazing. You will do whatever it takes to keep people safe. And I would do the same thing for you. Just because you are a trained killer doesn't mean you aren't a better person than someone who isn't. Because when you're in danger Booth... I'd do anything to save you too. Anything. I let my dad torture that bounty hunter. I lied to the police... and I'd do worse if I had to. I know I would." She said it with a conviction that brooked no argument. Booth looked tentatively, hopefully up into her eyes. They just sat there, eyes locked for a long moment, Dr. Brennan obviously trying to convey the depth of her respect and love through her eyes. Apparently it worked, because the tension left Booth's body slowly as they looked at each other. Some sort of unspoken communication was happening here.

"So this Maria person… you weren't sexually involved with her?" He interrupted, hoping to explore Dr. Brennan's jealousy a little further before the session was up.

"Maria is infatuated with Booth… _And_ he did kiss her when we found her." She said helpfully.

"It's a mild case of hero-worship, she'll get over it." He said dismissively.

"Probably didn't help that you kissed her." She mumbled. This was excellent. Her jealousy _had_ to be as obvious to Agent Booth as it was to him.

"Oh please, it was just one kiss on the forehead. Besides it made her feel good. I didn't see any harm in it."

"It leads people on when you do things like that."

The two of them were carrying on a conversation as though he wasn't even there. He kept silent, in order to best observe the interaction. After a long pregnant pause, Dr. Brennan surprised them both by asking "So did you sleep with her?"

"Excuse me?" Booth choked on the words.

"With Maria… did you sleep with her?" She avoided his eyes.

"Why do you care?" he asked suspiciously.

"No reason, just curious." she shrugged.

"Why?" he demanded.

"Can't I be curious about your sex life?"

"You know I don't like to talk about that stuff Bones." He said dismissively.

"You did sleep with her." She came to her own conclusion, and her voice sounded so obviously dejected that Sweets had to stifle a laugh. Booth's mouth turned up at the corners and his eyes twinkled with amusement. It was remarkable how much his face had changed from the lost soldier he'd been only moments before

"Are you jealous Bones?" He asked teasingly. She turned on him, her eyes filled with fire.

"Is that funny to you?" she spat the words at him but she wasn't denying it. She was jealous. "Because I can assure you it doesn't feel at all amusing to me. It's an intensely uncomfortable and unfamiliar feeling."

"Come on Bones, you've never been jealous before?" he said in disbelief.

"I've envied people's lives, their feelings, their choices, their possessions yes… but that is completely different." He could _not_ believe this. She wasn't backing down. She was putting herself out there, admitting her feelings. It was more than Agent Booth had ever been willing to do and that guy was jealous every time she so much as looked at another man.

"I didn't sleep with her." He said simply and watched her tortured soft eyes turn to him in disbelief. He dropped his gaze to the floor but continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye.

"I didn't Bones." He reassured her.

"Why not?" She asked. _Atta girl Dr. Brennan._ Sweets cheered inwardly.

"Yeah," he squirmed uncomfortably and cleared his throat a few times "that whole hero-worship thing is not… sexy… to me Bones. I'm a killer, not a hero."

Dr. Sweets couldn't resist interjecting here. "Actually, I should point out that jealousy is only natural in a relationship like yours." They looked up at him, probably surprised to find him still in the room.

"Really?" Dr. Brennan's voice was adorably hopeful.

"Totally. Your romantic relationships threaten the surrogate relationship you've established, and jealousy is a natural response to that threat."

"So it's normal to be jealous when she...she has a date or something?" Agent Booth had obviously spoken before he'd had a chance to think it through because he froze the moment just after he said it.

"When I have a date?" She repeated, her eyes filled with questions.

"You're not the only one who gets jealous Bones." Booth admitted, his voice thin with exhaustion, his hands raking through his hair. This was incredible! Something important was happening here and they were sharing it with him. They were letting him be a part of it. Granted they were both so tired, they probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning. But still!

"I don't understand what that means." She said softly.

"Yeah you do Bones." Booth looked at his watch. "You know exactly what it means." He stood, shoving his arms through his jacket. "I gotta go. I'm picking Parker up." She was looking up at him with a completely unfamiliar expression on her face. It was definately part fear, that was obvious… but it was something else too… hope… satisfaction… determination…love... Sweets couldn't put his finger on it, but it was definately there.

And then he watched dumbfounded as Booth leaned down over the back of the couch and dropped a kiss on her forehead. Not a quick kiss like he would give his son. A soft, strong, upside down kiss that lasted just long enough to mean something. Booth walked out of the room without a backward glance.

Dr. Brennan just sat there for a moment, staring at the door. He watched her, gauging her reaction carefully. Had it been too much? Had it been too soon? Had she even understood the implications of what just happened?

A small, reverent smile curved her mouth and her eyes were wide with wonder when she finally looked at him. "I should um…" her smile had grown into a shit-eating grin and apparently, it was difficult for her to talk and grin at the same time. "I should go….. now Sweets." She stood awkwardly and gathered her jacket and her purse and walked to the door, grinning the entire way. He couldn't hide the answering smile that played at his own lips.

"See you next week Dr. Brennan."

"Goodbye Sweets… and thank you." She stopped at the door and turned to face him once more. "You were…. Useful… today." He waved her off and sat in silence for a long moment, a smug smile plastered on his innocent, boyish face.


End file.
